Alex
sighs as she juggles her bag of groceries while she inserts the key
into her apartment door. She flips on the light and after shutting
the door and tossing her keys and groceries onto the counter. She
checks her answering machine. "No new messages." It drones
as she presses the button. Friday night and no where to go.
She thinks to herself. Bobby and Alex had returned to New York City
on Wednesday. Once in the
city she had dropped him off at his apartment and he had only
returned to work today. He had only called once to check up on a new
case that Deakins had assigned her, but he hadn't really talked
about what had gone on in Amherst. Now she wondered if he had
regretted it and didn't know how to tell her. Grabbing
her stack of paper work she walks over to her computer and sits down.
Flipping on the computer, she rolls her eyes at the monotonous of her
life and how doing paperwork was a ritual for her on weekends. She
pulls a file, her current case, from the stack and flips it open.
Studying her notes on the case, which had already been solved, she
absent mindfully clicks on her e-mail box which is blinking.

Eames,

I'm
picking you up at eight. Wear your reunion banquet outfit. See you
then!

-B-

P.S.
I know you'll read this. So put away the notes, the paperwork can
wait!

Alex
smiles at how well her partner really knows her.

8:05

"You're
late." Alex says, as she opens the door.

"You're
going to judge me on five minutes? Jeez, Eames, cut me some slack."
Bobby replies, standing outside her door dressed in his tuxedo. "I
only stopped to buy you this." He pulls a single red rose from
behind his back.

Alex
blushes slightly as she takes it."Bobby, that was so thoughtful of
you. Let me just put it in water. It will only take a minute." She
motions Bobby in and shuts the door.

"You
really like it? I wasn't sure if you'd think that a rose was too
ordinary. I was debating whether a cactus would have been a better
choice. You know, something a little abnormal." Bobby jokes, trying
to hide his nervousness.

Alex
smiles. "It's fine." She gives him a peck on the cheek. "Thank
you." She walks over to the sink and fills up a vase which she puts
the flower in.

Bobby
gives her a smile and quietly says. "You know I returned our rings
today. I finally felt up to doing it."

"Oh,
that's good." Alex couldn't meet his gaze. "Where are we
going tonight?" She turns and smiles at him.

"Arthurs."
Bobby replies, enthusiastically.

Alex
raises her eyebrows. "Fancy dining, Bobby?"

"Nothings
too good for you, Eames. And I must say you look twice as gorgeous as
you did at the reunion." Bobby walks over to her and takes her
hands in his. "I just want to say thank you for going with
me to the reunion. I mean you did great in our little undercover job
and I think that it was worth it to see Terry finally get what she
deserved."

"Yeah,
Bobby, we actually found a crime that we had to really think on."
Alex says, with a smile. "Or rather a crime that you had to really think on." She adds under her breath.

Bobby
looks at her. "This weekend brought back a lot of memories. I
really got a chance to get in touch with my youth again."

"Actually
I'd like a blue one. No, what I'm saying is that after I got home
and unpacked I started to go through some of my old stuff." He
reaches into his pocket. "And I found this. Alex will you go steady
with me?" Bobby holds out a class ring with a blue stone in it.

"Well,
you are my best girl, who else would I want to wear it?" Bobby
says, sheepishly.

"Of
course I want to wear it, but its too big." Alex says, as she holds
it in her fingers, examining it.

"I
was hoping you'd say yes, so I took the liberty of buying this to
go along with it." Bobby pulls a gold chain out of his pocket and
feeds it through the ring in Alex's hand.

"Will
you put it on for me?" Alex smiles.

"Gladly."
Bobby says, as she turns around and he attaches the clasp for her.

Alex
turns back around and after giving each other an embarrassed, but
happy, smile they lean in and give each other a brief, but loving
kiss. "We better go." She says while picking up her pocketbook
and shawl off a small table by the door. She tucks her hand in
the crook of Bobby's arm as he opens the door for her.

"You
know Eames, like I told you before, we won this weekend." Bobby
states, quietly, as they walk out the door.

"How?"
Alex asks as she pulls the door shut behind them. She smiles at him
as they step into the waiting elevator.

"I'm
one up on Charlie. I know who my Mrs. Right is, he still gotta find
his." Bobby says, seriously, as the elevator doors close.

Drifting
up from the street below, the exasperated voice of Alex sounded.
"Bobby, we're going to have to work on you actually calling me by
my first name. The last man that called me Eames on a date...got to
see my knuckles up close and personal."

Her
statement was followed by a hearty chuckle from Bobby who replied, in
kind. "Yes, dear."

Tonight
was the first day of the rest of their lives. Nothing was going to
stop them from enjoying themselves. Not Deakins, the rules, or even a
psycho prostitute with a chip on her shoulder.

FINIS

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